Detour Cafe – Review 2016

An urban retreat in Dundas

Detour Cafe | Dundas, Ontario

In the Toronto Life issue of September 2011, a column with title “exodue to suburbs” appeared. It was about young couples with kids fleeing the big smoke for greener, less stressful pastures.

In it, there was the story of a couple from Toronto moving to Dundas: Crystal and Kaelin and their three girls. This was a big plus for Dundas as they established an café/eatery where green coffee beans are roasted fresh and locally sourced ingredients are used to produce delicious cuisine.

Located right across from Cumbraes meats and Picone Fine Foods (as featured in this Blog and Urbanicity in October 2015) is Detour, founded by Crystal and Kaelin. She is a chef and he was working in the movie industry and during a movie a shoot lasting a few days in Dundas he came to appreciate the place and the rest is history.

Detour is one of those places where you feel at ease and at home immediately. Perhaps it is the charm of the building and décor but perhaps it is because staff are welcoming and cheerful, engage in meaningful conversation and exhibit a pride of place rarely seen these days elsewhere.

The menu is easy to read through and all ingredients are sourced as close to the Detour location as possible, for instance only Niagara Wines are listed.

I had the “weekender” a breakfast dish although it could be construed as brunch or lunch. For wine went with Henry de Pelham Cabernet Merlot. The bacon was from pigs raised naturally and so were the sausages I understand, the veggies cut small and delicious, the house made sourdough bread was excellent. The order took some time confirming that everything was made to order including sauces.

Not having a sweet tooth I could not comment on the desserts and all the treats they have but looking around I could see patrons delighting in the goodies on offer.
The interior is very warm and welcoming and the patio is shielded from the street with panels which still allow you to observe the scene while feeling as being in one’s own backyard. A note on the coffee, the espresso was very good and the beans used are not from fair trade. The reason is that the owners pay more that “fair trade” to the producers, which sometimes we need to look beyond the marketing lines and public relations claims. Also I am told they have the greenest roasting machine currently available in the market. All in all this complements nicely the other neighboring establishments including the Mickey McGuire’s Cheese, Picone’s and Cumbraes.